Russia, Ukraine trade drone attacks on military bases, energy facilities

Russian and Ukrainian forces continued to trade drone attacks on each other's military bases and energy facilities on Wednesday.

Russian Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that Russian forces struck Ukraine's naval bases, ammunition depots, fuel storage facilities in the past day.

They also attacked Ukrainian forces' transport and energy infrastructure, storage, preparation and launch sites for long range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries in 148 areas.

The ministry said that Russian air defense units shot down 14 guided aerial bombs, four long range cruise missiles, and 766 fixed wing UAVs.

On the same day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that 234 combat engagements took place along the frontline in the past day, and Ukrainian forces shot down 2,204 Russian UAVs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed via social media that Ukrainian forces carried out long range strikes using drones and missiles against multiple military and energy infrastructure targets deep inside Russian territory.

Russia, Ukraine trade drone attacks on military bases, energy facilities

The swelling Euphrates River has submerged farmland and washed away roads and bridges in Syrian provinces of Deir al-Zour and Raqqa since late May.

The Syrian transitional government has ordered residents along the riverbanks to evacuate as the flood water continues to rise and has inundated villages in the region.

"No one has come to help us. The entire area is submerged. The water level has risen as high as the houses and is still rising. All people are in a hurry to find a shelter. We have nowhere to go," said a local resident.

The flood has caused the Euphrates' water surface to expand to three times its normal extent, from 60.9 square kilometers to 188.7 square kilometers.

The disaster stems from abnormal torrential rain in upstream regions coupled with large-scale water releases from dams, according to Syrian news media reports.

Citing regional water authority sources, Turkish media reported that months of high precipitation raised water levels at Turkey's Ataturk Dam, prompting authorities to carry out "controlled water releases," with the spillway gates opened for the first time in seven years.

Euphrates floods hit northeastern Syria